General Landscape Uses:
Wildflower for naturalistic landscapes.
Availability:
Rarely grown by native plant nurseries.
Description: Biennial wildflower with evergreen overwintering leaves. Forms clumps. Showy star-shaped pale blue flowers on a leafy stem.
Dimensions: Typically 3-5 feet in height.
Growth Rate: Fast.
Range:
Eastern North America south to the Florida Panhandle in Jackson, Gadsden, and Liberty counties.
Map of select IRC data from peninsular Florida.
Habitats: Moist, rich woods
Soils: Moist, well-drained sandy or limestone soils, with humusy top layer.
Nutritional Requirements: Moderate; can grow in nutrient poor soils, but needs some organic content to thrive.
Salt Water Tolerance: Low; does not tolerate long-term flooding by salt or brackish water.
Salt Wind Tolerance: Low; salt wind may burn the leaves.
Drought Tolerance: Moderate; generally requires moist soils, but tolerant of short periods of drought once established.
Light Requirements: Light shade to full sun.
Flower Color: Pale blue
Flower Characteristics: Showy.
Flowering Season: Summer.
Fruit: Dry pods
References: Hall (
2020), Mellichamp (
2014)
Comments: We have been adding data for this species for central and northern Florida and welcome any feedback or review. If you would like to contribute information or images, please contact George Gann via the IRC staff page.
